It all started on Saturday, at 4 am. I woke up to the maniacal chatter of my alarm. It was time to grab my bags, head to Pasadena, and drive my parents to the airport as these are the duties of an only child. My paternal grandmother had passed away the week before and Mom and Dad were headed to Wisconsin to pay their respects and spend some time with family. It was my job to hold down the fort, take care of the dog, and make sure the cat had someone to scream at. I’d done this duty countless times before but something was different this time: there was an atmospheric river headed towards LA.
Two moments come to mind, decades apart: When I was a kid in Milwaukee, we had a very rare near miss tornado. They almost never came through because Lake Michigan has an ameliorating effect on the dramatic air pressure changes that create them, but I remember one summer night my folks were out (maybe working at our restaurant and the winds starting howling - shaking windows, rattling doors, snapping limbs off trees. It was Wizard of Oz terrifying, but a lot more short-lived than the monsoon you dealt with. We found out the next day that a twister had indeed touched down briefly just a few blocks away. The second instance was about eleven years ago, shortly after we moved into the house we're in now. A major wind event (not a tornado but more widespread) came tearing out of the desert with winds that were clocked at 100 miles an hour in our area. At the time we had three huge eucalyptus trees in the front yard, and my car was parked in the driveway right near our front door and beneath one of the trees. Around midnight I told Susan I was nervous about the car and went out into the gale to drive it around the circular drive and park it away from the eucalyptus. I came back into the house and no more than five minutes later we heard a crash as a massive branch from the tree came down right where my car had been parked, just grazing the front porch overhang. The next day trees were uprooted all over the neighborhood and down a two block stretch of Green Street in Pasadena. Other parts of the city experienced almost nothing.
Same house, last year’s storm. At midnight Steven and I heard the sump pump in the sub basement cycling on and off and when we checked it the pump wasn’t draining and the basement was filling with rainwater threatening the heaters. We bailed for about an hour in the pouring rain, soaked to the skin, saving the heaters, but had to do it all over again at 3:00am. Homeownership. What are you going to do? Thanks, Will for saving the family farm!
Two years ago a pipe burst in a wall in our condo building. The ensuing flood destroyed the first floor unit's bathroom. It was ultimately remodeled after the house was repiped. All fixed? No my friend. The plumber was unable to hook us up to the new piping because our old bathroom fixtures were not up to the current code. Another total remodel. This time of a fully functional bathroom!
Will, I'm glad you, Sophie, and the cat are safe. But you've never lived through epic Midwest snowstorms. The late 70s, my best friend drove to Chicago from Milwaukee to spend a few days with me. I lived in a basement apartment. It was over a week before we could get out of the apartment. She was finally able to dig out her car and get back to Milwaukee, her husband, and her young daughter, but the lake effect snow continued for six weeks, paralyzing the city. Having grown up in Milwaukee, I was accustomed to efficient snow removal. This does not exist in Chicago. Then the multiple feet of snow started to melt off the roofs, and dripped through the apartments above mine, into my wiring and light fixtures. Good times!
Then the snowstorm a number of years ago - clear skies in the morning, and then the deluge. We were at our Sociopathic boss' house cataloging his clock collection in preparation of opening a museum. We finally insisted we were leaving. The most harrowing trip behind the wheel I've ever experienced. Zero visibility. Zero. Another fifteen minutes, and we would have been trapped in the total shutdown of Lake Shore Drive. I had friends who couldn't even abandon their cars, the snow was so overpowering. Cars completely stranded all over Lake Shore Drive. An absolute nightmare.
Now my only nightmare is my 84 year old husband crawling out the attic window to push off snow or clean gutters. Jackass.
The Adventures of Will. Welcome to a glimpse of home ownership. The problems really start after one moves in. Behind every dream home is another expense waiting to jump out, unexpectedly, both in timing and as in 'what, I never thought of that.' But you were a hero bailing out the water. My back hurts just thinking of it.
Two moments come to mind, decades apart: When I was a kid in Milwaukee, we had a very rare near miss tornado. They almost never came through because Lake Michigan has an ameliorating effect on the dramatic air pressure changes that create them, but I remember one summer night my folks were out (maybe working at our restaurant and the winds starting howling - shaking windows, rattling doors, snapping limbs off trees. It was Wizard of Oz terrifying, but a lot more short-lived than the monsoon you dealt with. We found out the next day that a twister had indeed touched down briefly just a few blocks away. The second instance was about eleven years ago, shortly after we moved into the house we're in now. A major wind event (not a tornado but more widespread) came tearing out of the desert with winds that were clocked at 100 miles an hour in our area. At the time we had three huge eucalyptus trees in the front yard, and my car was parked in the driveway right near our front door and beneath one of the trees. Around midnight I told Susan I was nervous about the car and went out into the gale to drive it around the circular drive and park it away from the eucalyptus. I came back into the house and no more than five minutes later we heard a crash as a massive branch from the tree came down right where my car had been parked, just grazing the front porch overhang. The next day trees were uprooted all over the neighborhood and down a two block stretch of Green Street in Pasadena. Other parts of the city experienced almost nothing.
Same house, last year’s storm. At midnight Steven and I heard the sump pump in the sub basement cycling on and off and when we checked it the pump wasn’t draining and the basement was filling with rainwater threatening the heaters. We bailed for about an hour in the pouring rain, soaked to the skin, saving the heaters, but had to do it all over again at 3:00am. Homeownership. What are you going to do? Thanks, Will for saving the family farm!
Two years ago a pipe burst in a wall in our condo building. The ensuing flood destroyed the first floor unit's bathroom. It was ultimately remodeled after the house was repiped. All fixed? No my friend. The plumber was unable to hook us up to the new piping because our old bathroom fixtures were not up to the current code. Another total remodel. This time of a fully functional bathroom!
The diagnosis is the scariest thought.
You have given me good food for thought tonight as I look for solutions to several situations. Once it’s diagnosed, the healing can begin, right?
Glad you made it through the crazy weather.
The parents owe you big time and you can tell them I said so.
Will, I'm glad you, Sophie, and the cat are safe. But you've never lived through epic Midwest snowstorms. The late 70s, my best friend drove to Chicago from Milwaukee to spend a few days with me. I lived in a basement apartment. It was over a week before we could get out of the apartment. She was finally able to dig out her car and get back to Milwaukee, her husband, and her young daughter, but the lake effect snow continued for six weeks, paralyzing the city. Having grown up in Milwaukee, I was accustomed to efficient snow removal. This does not exist in Chicago. Then the multiple feet of snow started to melt off the roofs, and dripped through the apartments above mine, into my wiring and light fixtures. Good times!
Then the snowstorm a number of years ago - clear skies in the morning, and then the deluge. We were at our Sociopathic boss' house cataloging his clock collection in preparation of opening a museum. We finally insisted we were leaving. The most harrowing trip behind the wheel I've ever experienced. Zero visibility. Zero. Another fifteen minutes, and we would have been trapped in the total shutdown of Lake Shore Drive. I had friends who couldn't even abandon their cars, the snow was so overpowering. Cars completely stranded all over Lake Shore Drive. An absolute nightmare.
Now my only nightmare is my 84 year old husband crawling out the attic window to push off snow or clean gutters. Jackass.
The Adventures of Will. Welcome to a glimpse of home ownership. The problems really start after one moves in. Behind every dream home is another expense waiting to jump out, unexpectedly, both in timing and as in 'what, I never thought of that.' But you were a hero bailing out the water. My back hurts just thinking of it.